Prerequisites for ECE 461/561

Should I Wait and Take ECE 460/560 First?

ECE 460/560 (Embedded System Architectures, or ESA) is a prerequisite for ECE 461/561. If you haven’t taken it, then you will be at a disadvantage compared with the other students. ECE 461/561 builds on the following expertise learned in ECE 460/560:

• Familiarity with platform hardware and software

  • ARM Cortex M0+ CPU,

  • Kinetis KL25Z MCU peripherals (especially timer/PWM, ADC, UART, SPI, GPIO),

  • Expansion shield (with LCD, touch screen, audio output, uSD card interface, buck converter)

• Familiarity with toolchain: Keil Microvision Development Kit and debugger

• Familiarity with developing RTXv5 RTOS-based application software to target expansion shield

• Familiarity with using an Analog Discovery 2/3 as oscilloscope and logic analyzer

If you haven’t had 460/560 already, have little free time and little embedded system development experience and are worried about your background, I encourage you to wait a year for 461/561, and take 460/560 first.

If you do commit yourself to taking the course, you learn much about the platform (CPU, KL25Z MCU and peripherals) by working through my ESF textbook and its sample code and following other guidance on this page. Contact me for materials to help learn about the expansion shield and how it uses the MCU. 

Materials Required

Texts

These textbooks are required for ECE 460/560 (and therefore ECE 461/561 as well):

Embedded Systems Fundamentals with ARM Cortex-M Microcontrollers – Alexander G. Dean
Edition: 1st
ISBN: 978-1911531036
Web Links: Amazon, book website
Cost: $40

Debugging: The 9 Indispensable Rules for Finding Even the Most Elusive Software and Hardware Problems – David J. Agans
Edition: 1st
ISBN: 9780814474570
Web Link: Amazon
Cost: $15

Components

You will be provided with a FRDM-KL25Z MCU evaluation board, expansion shield and jumper wires to use for the semester. They must be returned in working condition at the end of the semester. 

Test Equipment

You are expected to have a logic analyzer (at least four channels) and an oscilloscope (at least two channels with differential inputs) to view and decode I2C, SPI and serial communications, as well as processor activity using twiddle bits and current consumption (with a sense resistor). These are especially valuable when using the real-time kernel and evaluating system activity.

The Analog Discovery 2 or 3  (AD2/3) is strongly recommended; the expansion shield was designed to plug in directly. The AD2/3 capabilities include an oscilloscope and logic analyzer. A discounted price of about $249 is available for students (https://digilent.com/shop/academic/). Check with the instructor if you wish to use a different device. 

You are expected to have a digital multimeter.  The multimeter is needed for general troubleshooting and measurements.